Francis
Francis is one of the four playable Survivors in Left 4 Dead. He is a tough biker with tattoos covering his arms and neck. His tattoos identify him as a member of "Hell's Legion", a name possibly inspired by the real world Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club.In official media he can usually be seen wielding either the Pump Shotgun or the Auto Shotgun. Francis, along with Zoey and Louis, appears in Left 4 Dead 2 in the downloadable campaign The Passing as they meet with the Left 4 Dead 2 Survivors. Nick and Francis bicker with each other a lot due to their brash natures, although Rochelle finds herself strangely attracted to him. Francis' facial features are portrayed by Taylor Knox and he is voiced by Vince Valenzuela. Official description Background Francis attempted to steal a flat screen television two days after first Infection. When he is caught, his claim that he is a cop gathering evidence for a crime is not taken seriously. He is next shown in a bar boasting to his friends about why he is going to jail. When one of his friends reveals to him that Pennsylvania jails do not allow conjugal visits, Francis says he "better not waste any more time" and heads into the bar's back room with a young woman named Sandra. Francis and Sandra begin kissing in the back room when she gets sick on his vest. He almost leaves, but she convinces him to stay and then promptly bites him. She is about to attack him when Francis's paranoid friend, Duke, shoots her. Realizing that this is no ordinary flu and that most people are zombies, Francis has Duke and Danny lug a jukebox to the roof where he begins picking off Infected one by one. Relationships with other Survivors Of the four original Survivors, Francis is the most cocky and insulting. *'Bill: '''Francis and Bill tease each other a lot. On some occasions he flat-out insults him ("We got a helpless old man with us!") and often makes sarcastic retorts to his comments ("Don't let that stop you from smearing it all over yourself."). Francis also shows that he would rather live and let Bill die ("Bill, let me see your health pack. I just want to look at it.") Bill is quick to let Francis know that the feeling is mutual, and dislikes his pessimistic and rude attitude. The arguing and teasing is likely just joking around between the two; if Bill dies, Francis is quite shaken up. It is not known whether it is because he cares for Bill or if he is disturbed at the nature of his death. There is a noticeable change in tone when he talks about losing Bill in The Passing, and he hated the idea of lowering the bridge when Bill was the one who gave his life to raise it, hinting that he had a large amount of respect for him. *'Louis:' Francis doesn't seem to talk to Louis much, but when he does, it's mostly insults. Francis dislikes his optimistic outlook on The Infection and perhaps the way Louis sees Francis himself. When Francis does insult, Louis either doesn't get the sarcasm, or breaks from his kindly attitude to give Francis a word. ("Francis, you can take your mustache, your vest, and your chaps, and go find yourself a parade!") They are known to bicker about whether the Infected are zombies or vampires as well. If it comes to Louis' death, Francis is quite shaken and, while he does make a joke about his profession ("The manager's down for the count,"), he also says that he started to grow on him. ("Shit! I was just starting to like that guy" and "Damn it...he didn't deserve this.") However, when Louis is incapacitated outside the safe room, he shows that he isn't above abandoning Louis if it were a unanimous decision. *'Zoey: In beta testing, Zoey and Francis were to share some sort of affection towards each other, but this was cut. Nonetheless, Francis seems to like Zoey more than the other Survivors, and shows extreme sadness if she dies. Zoey isn't as keen to Francis as she was originally intended to be, but they get along quite well. In Crash Course, Francis becomes fairly annoyed at Zoey for shooting the helicopter pilot, and throughout The Alleys he makes fun of her. Despite this, they still crack jokes together, and Francis eventually warms up. *Coach: Francis doesn't have much interaction with Coach, but he does at first believe Coach to be Rochelle's father. This amuses Rochelle, but insults Coach somewhat, since he is only 15 years older than Rochelle. *Ellis: Francis and Ellis get along well. They both have a mutual belief that the presence of 'real' zombies means that there must also be vampires, werewolves, mummies, and aliens around. ("Yeah, yeah! That's what I've been saying!")dlc1_c6m1_initialmeeting43.wav Their only conflict comes over Jimmy Gibbs Junior, who Francis believes either to be a man or dog who sold tacos. ("You mean this car used to belong to the...taco dog?")dlc1_c6m3_finalechat41.wav Ellis will get angry with Francis over this. Francis also hates Ellis' hat, but laughs as if it was a joke.dlc1_c6m3_l4d1finalebridgerun06.wav *Nick: Nick and Francis seem to completely hate each other. At the start of The Riverbank if Francis is present, Nick refers to him as a "greasy monkey" while Francis calls him "Suit" or "Colonel Sanders" in turn. However, the line "Brother, that's what I'm trying to tell ya. We can't get this thing down ourselves. You have to get to the other side,", won't lead to an argument between them. He occasionally compares Nick to a Witch because of his complaining throughout the campaign"Witch! Oh sorry, I got confused by all your crying." Despite their distaste for one another, Francis wishes Nick good luck and calls him a brother upon Nick's departure ("Nick! Good luck, my brother."). This is probably because Francis and Nick share a common affiliation to a gang or group, as Nick's ring and Francis' right shoulder tattoo share the same symbol. It's hinted that they knew each other in certain dialogue too. Also, due to their abrasive natures, it is possible their supposed hostility towards each other may have no real hatred at all. *Rochelle:' Through the events of The Passing, Francis becomes infatuated with Rochelle, going so far as call her his "lovely little angel" and sob at her departure. He might also cry out "I love you, Ro!" as they drive away. He compliments her taste in music when commenting on her shirt, referring to Depeche Mode as "classy". He becomes even more infatuated with her after realizing that she "hates things too", including his vest, which turns him off completely. Hatred of Everything Francis is notable for often contextually exclaiming how he hates something. Anything, really. Why Francis hates almost everything is unknown, but it can be assumed that it has something to do with his past of being an outlaw. Among the things Francis hates: |} When asked by Bill if there's anything he ''doesn't hate, he replies "You know what I don't hate? I don't hate vests."WorldSmallTown0513.wav In Crash Course, Francis states that he loves lasagna, and when Zoey walks past the steam pipe and sarcastically moans "I loove steam", he mutters "Yeah... Steam's alright, I guess.". This is a reference of Valve's gaming software, also called Steam. In the same level, the crash leaves him so dazed that he blurts out "I love helicopters!"dlc2intro20.wav, raising genuine concern for his mental health before he snaps out of it. From the tone of his voice, his statement that he loves helicopters may also be sarcasm that the other Survivors don't pick up on. During The Passing, Francis states "I love that car!"dlc1_c6m3_l4d1finalecinematic03.wav, referring to Jimmy Gibbs Jr.'s stock car. Despite the fact that he hates cops, he often claims he is one when attempting to call a Rescue Vehicle, the Church Guy (who said he didn't sound like one), or when talking to the Left 4 Dead 2 Survivors, where he claims that him, Zoey and Louis are all cops (Nick however, sees through this ruse), even yelling to the new Survivors who are escaping from the Port that they were cops. It is also pretty obvious that he does not hate Rochelle. Quotes and Captions See: Francis/Quotes and Captions Notes * Francis has the Lambda logo from the Half-Life series cut into his hair as an Easter egg which appears in almost every game that Valve has developed, upon further inspection however, it appears to be a scar. * In-game developer commentary states that Francis is a huge 6'5" 1.95m tall. * Francis often refers to the Infected as "vampires". This could be due to the fact that the Infected aren't necessarily traditional "dead" zombies, but rather, infected humans. It has been speculated that this may be due to the confusion about the creatures in the film I Am Legend. People thought the Hemocites were zombies, when in the book they are confirmed to be vampires. It could also be a reference to the movie "From Dusk Till Dawn", which is about bikers/truckers in a bar fending off vampires; furthering this, Bill requests that he be shot should he turn, mimicking a scene from the movie. * In the game and most pictures, Francis is seen equipped with a shotgun of some sort. But in the concept art below, he is holding a weapon that looks quite similar to a MP5 sub-machine gun or a G3. * In Left 4 Dead 2's Parish campaign, a section of graffiti can be found in the safe room at the end of the first chapter which states "God I hate zombies". While it is open to speculation that Francis has traveled this far south, which may be a reference to the campaign The Passing, it is still a humorous Easter egg. * Despite his "tough guy" attitude, when Francis is knocked down, he will sometimes scream shrilly. His macho personality also breaks when one of his friends dies. Although he fights with Bill constantly throughout the game, he seems genuinely upset to see him die (as does Bill when Francis dies). This might be because Bill is a Vietnam veteran and fought in a war for his country, while Francis is a biker, which are often outlaws. Sometimes when he dies, he will whisper "Mamaaaaa...". In The Passing, Francis seems to have taken Bill's role as leader of the group. *Francis is only wearing his driving gloves in "The Sacrifice"'s campaign movie poster. * The quote "Groovy", which Francis says occasionally when picking up an auto Shotgun, could be a reference to the cult horror film Evil Dead II. It may also be a reference to the Duke Nukem series, because when Duke Nukem sometimes picks up a gun, he will say "Groovy." This was put in the Duke Nukem games as a reference to Evil Dead II as well. * In early beta, Francis was portrayed as being somewhat overweight. On top of this, there is a rarely used voice file for Louis where he states "Go on! Do it one more time fat man!" upon being repeatedly shot by Francis. The sound file is "manager_friendlyfirefrancis07". * One of Francis' arm tattoos appears to show The Star of Chaos, a recurring symbol in the Warhammer franchise and Chaos magic. * Under the Star of Chaos tattoo is a visible portrait of the outlaw Jesse James. * Francis may attempt to use the disguise of police to other Survivors or other people outside of his group, as he claims people will do anything a cop tells them to. Examples include: ** Death Toll - At The Church, Francis attempts to tell the Church Guy that he and his group are cops. He doesn't fall for it. ** Death Toll - At the Boathouse Finale, Francis tells John Slater that they are cops. John believes him, telling his wife "Honey, it's the police!" and tells him that they will be there as soon as possible. ** Blood Harvest - Francis tells the military on the radio in Farmhouse Finale that he and his group are cops. The soldier on the other end believes him and promises to rush to rescue them. ** The Passing - Francis attempts to get the Left 4 Dead 2 Survivors to believe that he is a cop. Nick seems to be the only one that doesn't fall for the ruse. ** The Sacrifice comic - In Part Two of the comic, Francis attempts to use a plan involving himself as a cop again, but due to the soundproof door, the two soldiers (or the readers, for that matter) are unable to hear his dialogue except for the end of it, upon which they tell Francis whatever he's planning, it won't work. In Part Three of the comic, Francis attempts to get away from stealing by saying he's a cop, to a cop.This of course doesn't work and ends up running away. * In the campaign The Passing, Francis and Nick appear to hate each other. Francis hints at having known Nick before the Infection, but they still do not get along. There are moments where they recognize each other's brotherhood, though, and because to this, their aggressions may be simply due to their nature, with no real hostility intended. * In the game files, Francis is called "biker". * In the very first trailer of Left 4 Dead, Francis is at least incapacitated by Common Infected, unlike the others, who were killed. * In Crash Course, he claimed having worked for Hersch until he was fired for beating a man to death who laughed at his shorts. * Each of the Left 4 Dead Survivors agree with at least one thing Francis dislikes, even if it is mockingly: ** In Crash Course, Francis may exclaim "I hate birds," to which Zoey replies "Yeah, birds are dicks!" ** In Crash Course, if Francis says "I hate helicopters now," Louis says "For once we are in complete agreement, Francis!" ** In No Mercy and Blood Harvest, when Francis exclaims "I hate stairs," Bill might respond positively with "Damn straight," or "Then we are two buddy.", surely due to his knee injury. * Louis might mention about teaching Francis how to read, hinting his educational background. Ironically, he is capable of reading several signs throughout Crash Course, much to Louis' amazement. * In The Sacrifice comic, Francis shows he's more pessimistic than he is in-game. * In The Sacrifice comic, it shows a possible reason why Francis might think that the Infected are vampires. When he first encountered an Infected, he was bitten in the neck. Gallery File:Franie2.jpg|Head shot of Francis. File:Picture3.jpg|Concept art of beta Francis. File:Francis-survivors-alley-1920-2.jpg|Francis' appearance during initial game development. francis_i_hate_different_small.png|Picture for the Mac version of Left 4 Dead. File:Taylor knox m.jpg|Francis' face model, Taylor Knox. headshot_4.jpg|Vince Valenzuela, Francis' voice actor. L4dpg23Francis.jpg|Francis as he appears in-comic References Category:The Survivors Category:Left 4 Dead